Once and then Always
by karindalynn
Summary: Rumples new curse makes the hero's into villains and the villains into hero's. Everyone (but Rumples) memories are replaced with new ones, but there character and personalities do not change. When Captain Jones crosses paths with the Black Swan, everything changes. Can Hook and Emma find a way back to each other? Can Robin and Regina reunite? What will it take to break the curse?
1. Chapter 1

**Captain Killian Jones - The Enchanted Forest ( 4x22)**

He snuck into the Good Queen Regina's castle the back way, through the passages, at night. If he entered properly in the daylight, the crowds would gather, making him uncomfortable with their cheers, there eagerness to see the hero.

It never felt right, so he took to avoiding it. Sticking to the darkness of the shadows that seemed, against reason, more familiar territory.

He was loved by all as a hero, but still felt empty somehow, as something, _someone _was missing. That all the adoration in the world could not fill or comfort the gap that _one _person could fill.

But there was no one person. His memories told him that his wife, Milah's had died in the hands of the villian, what villian he could never seem to recall... And he had lost his hand saving the kingdom from that villians doom. He had a fake hand now, all knightly and gold plated and beautiful, but it always felt _wrong _to him. Out of place. He would stare at it sometimes, not really wanting back his hand, but sure it should look different.

He had been summoned by his queen for another mission, another adventure. Another foe to face. As he made his way down the corridors of her castle, he ran into three women, all beautiful, cooing at him and stroking his arm in appreciation. They threw themselves at him, the brave knight, and his gentleman manners forced himself into a brief conversation with only subtle rejection.

He always rejected them. He told himself it was because of Milah, but that felt so long ago..., he told himself because of good form. They were both lies, and he knew it, knew deep it was because of the flash of something he caught when he was dreaming, a cascade of gold and the green of the most beautiful of seas.

_Someone _was missing. But he did not dare speak this out loud. He had no one close to himself to share it with anyways. Surrounded by love and complaining he was somehow lacking it.

Regina sat on her throne and smiled in friendliness when she saw him, but not fast enough to hide the look he had seen in her eyes first, sadness. He looked at her speculatively, this good Queen that had it all, was loved unconditionally by her people, and wondered suddenly if she felt it to...

What was _missing. That this was somehow wrong._

_"The villians are growing, spreading terror in our people Captain. We need to capture and defeat them. There are the more minor ones, like that thief Robin Hood, who steals from our poor to make himself richer, or Black Snow and her husband, ruling the neighbourhood kingdom with torture and fear."_

_"I think we should target the most powerful, the most hated, my Queen, to send a message to the others, that evil comes with a price."_

Regina smiled a little sadly at that, saying "_I agree, but it is dangerous. I don't want to risk our people, their lives. That is why I want you to go, undercover of sorts, and go after her one on one, and to kill her if necessary for the sake of our people...because you are my greatest hero, but also my survivor..."_

He knew what was coming, but he asked anyways, refusing to feel fear at her response.

"_Her?"_

_"Yes Captain... I need you to go after and kill the Black Swan"_

**Dark? Emma** **\- The Enchanted** Forest

She had gone to the tavern to get drunk, sick of the torturous thoughts that filled her head.

Of what she was.

Of what she had done.

Memories, screaming at her of whole villages murdered, small children slaughter amongst them, and always, their blood was on her hands. The last village for no other reason but they dared to be in her way.

She stared at those hands, and the white glow of her magic, mocking her in its innocent glow when she knew it should be as black as her soul was.

She wanted to scream sometimes that this was not her, this dark creature. She did not feel BAD. Yet when she went to yell out and deny it, the memories would bubble up inside her to silence her, leave her winded in the flashback of her own atrocities. She was a monster. There was not a word strong enough for to villify enough what she was, what she had done. Oh GOD, the children. The children.

The alcohol did little to numb the pain, and normally little could distract from the feriosity of her own self hatred, hot and piercing. But tonight was different as a man was watching her drink, stealing small glances from under the fluttering of his eyelashes, the clear blue of those eyes, grabbing her attention.

She was used to people staring, with terror or revulsion. This was different, this was warm somehow and speculative.

She started stealing glances herself until she wasn't sure anymore which one of them really was the one that had started it all in the first place. She had no intention of moving it forward, so she tried to push down the... something that was rising up inside of her.

Her heart beat in excitement at the same time that her stomach lurched in panic as he got up and approached her, giving her his best smouldering smile, and tucking himself beside her at the bar.

"_Are you crazy, suicidal or just somehow ignorant as to what I am?" _She managed suddenly, doing her best to look as uninterested in his obvious flirtation as possible.

"_Can a man not simply buy a beautiful woman a drink love?" _He said this to her softly, and oh, God, the sound of his voice made it even worse. The soothing lull of his accent.

She sat back, pulling away, determined to ignore the overwhelming desire suddenly to just touch him, to rub her fingers across the scruff of his face to see if it was as soft as she remembered... Wait what!? Remembered? She shook her head at the foolish thought, trying to steel herself against him.

In her efforts, she squeezed her glass too hard, and it shattered in her hand, slicing her.

He pulled out some cloth from his outfit, white and pristine, and she wondered suddenly at him, and his outfit. It was plain, and dark navy, as if chosen to tell as little about its wearer as possible. She almost did not realize who he was, but two things gave him away. The press of the handkerchief was perfect, military in its precision, and she realized suddenly, that under the black glove he had a wooden hand.

She knew that left hand was likely normally golden. She wondered at what he was up to. Well she tried to wonder, but her brain went to mush as suddenly...

"_Your hand, it's cut, let me help you"_

_"It fine" _

_"No its not, here... _She forgot to breathe a little as he gently wrapped her hand up, binding it with his teeth. He looked up at her, again from beneath his lashes, and she felt her own eyes flutter, her hands itch at the sudden need to reach out, until she pulled herself out of it suddenly, drawing back again.

He smiled at her, not put off in the least, and she was sure his eyes flitted to the tell tale pink she was sure crept across her cheeks, betraying her.

"_A tough lass" _He sat back again, giving her needed space.

It all felt so familiar. She tried to bury deep the next thought but it flared up anyways. This all felt so _right_.

But she knew who he was now, and what she was to those like him, so she stared at him unblinking raising her walls again as much as she was able.

"_What are you after Captain?" _And she was satisfied he was properly upset at her having guessed his identity.

He quickly regrouped though, and purred at her

_"You are a beautiful woman love, and I but a lonely man... Have you not ever been in love?_

_"No, I have never been in love.." _She thought she sounded convincing, as she almost believed herself, but he just arched and eyebrow up at her, scratched behind his ear and let his eyes laugh at her.

She had vague memories of love, of Neal, of Graham, of Walsh, all brief, all ending in death and betrayal. No one had loved her and lived to survive it, but as she thought this she had another flash, something deep screaming out that she was wrong, certain their had been someone once, who had changed that. She excitedly fought to get an image from that dark down secret place, but the face that flash suddenly was HIS face, this man before her, and they had never met.

She was evil and clearly crazy. She wondered if that was why she did not feel like the demon she knew herself to be.

She was so sick of the darkness. She gave into the temptation, his light.

"_So, did you rescue some innocent puppies from any burning fires today?" __  
_

_"Why, were you burning down small villages again?" _He countered, not missing a beat

"_Are you not worried that I will rip out your heart and crush it?" _

He took longer to reply this time, poking his tongue out of his mouth a little that made a certain part of her clench.

"_Why destroy something, I might freely give you with the right incentive, love?"_

She watched his face for the lie, and saw none.

"_Yet I am dark, black evil and you are the golden, white knight" _She said this softly, and he cocked his head, and he saw the seriousness in his eyes at what he said next.

"_Yet you are the one with the golden hair and white magic, and I am the one with the dark hair and the strange attraction the black clothing" " Makes you wonder if it is all wrong somehow..like everything got mixed up"_

Her heart beat rapidly as she heard the doubt in his voice and saw in his own eyes, his own uncertainty at his own identity. They understood each other. Oh my god, to have someone express the doubt she was feeling. She got it out, but it was tentative, almost a whisper...

"_I don't feel like a villian..."_

He grabbed her hand and kissed it, on the palm, gently. "_I don't feel like a hero, not always anyways..."_

_"Let's go somewhere to talk..."_

She reached out her hand to him, to let him pull her out of her seat, and to continue this conversation, that had her humming with...hope... when she looked up at him suddenly, and saw it cross across his features, a mix of panic, self hate, hesitation, doubt. He looked conflicted and very guilty and her instincts screamed at her too late in warning. As she stared at his warm hand approaching her own, it deviated, slamming a black cuff on her wrist, blocking her magic as effectively as hand cuffs. He backed up quickly, fast, his eyes tortured.

"_Captain, dont do this" _She pleaded, desperately, not out of any fear of harm, but rather the crushing pain of yet another betrayal, the stomping down on her spark of something light.

"_Swan, I am sorry, love, so sorry... But I can not take a chance that I am wrong about you" _He looked as gutted as she felt, but he did it to her anyways. "_I need to save the kingdom" _

He had rope out now, but she was ready this time, knowing she could not best him with weapons without her magic, she fought dirty instead. She put her head down and allowed herself to cry at the crushing disappointment of it all, and when he stepped forward, unconsciously to comfort her, she slammed another glass from the bar into his head, rendering him out cold.

It would take a mere seconds to take the broken glass and slice his throat, something dark and broken within her beckoned, but she looked at him again, out on the floor, and the crazy voice inside her whispered at her, don't ,not him, never him.

In the end she simply stormed out into the night, leaving him where he fell, still breathing.

She would give him one free pass.

But one pass only. She promised the darkness she lived with, that if he tried again, she would kill him.

If she dreamed that night of her in a red dress, dancing with him at a ball, well, she simply would deny that...even to herself.

Villians did not get happy endings.


	2. Chapter 2

**Captain Jones**

She was gone when he regained consciousness from the floor, but her presence lingered anyways, having awoken something deep within him.

He knew somehow his dreams of gold and green would no longer be vague, but the long length or her hair and the shine of her eyes.

He did not know what had happened, but he had felt it almost instantaneously, a crackling of heat and understanding. The overwhelming urge that everything would be magically okay, if he just reached out to kiss her.

Like a kiss could save the kingdom.

She would be back after him, he knew, when she realized that only he could remove the cuff that prevented her magic, part of the spell Regina had cast on it was that only the person who bound the other with it, could remove it. For now at least, the kingdom, the people were free of her black magic.

He figured she would need time to regroup and plot out her vengeance. He speculated at week at least before she watched his movements enough to risk a move. Time for him to plot and plan as well.

Of course he was tragically wrong and underestimated her.

She must have realized quickly she could not remove the bracelet on her own, and he was barely out the door of the tavern the next morning when she struck again in daylight, from behind, from above, with the gall to press a knife to his throat. He stood still, and she hesitated and failed to make the kill (again) believing she had the advantage, so he used it and he struck out, twisting her arm until he weapon released to the floor, and using his legs to kick out her own from beneath her. _Don't hurt her!_ something deep inside him cried, but he satisfied himself with the reminder that this one was far from innocent, far from helpless. Not wanting regardless to fight a woman, he ended it as fast as possible and focused on restraining not hurting her enough to bind her with his rope.

She fought like a wildcat, all claws and energy, but with her magic subdued, he had superior strength and the reflexes of someone who had more fights behind him then his memory could recall or justify. When the hell had he learned to fight like this?

Then it was over, with her bound on the ground before him, at least temporarily secured, but still struggling, refusing to concede, to fail.

He picked up the knife, contemplating her, and the atrocities she had done.

The crimes she had committed.

The villages burned.

The people murdered.

The children. Oh God, the children.

He was ordered to kill. He was an officer, and according to all logic, killing her was the right thing to do, as she was too powerful to be safely caged.

But he could not shake the feeling that it was _wrong_. She was angry, of sure, killing him a thousand ways with her eyes, but underneath it he saw something else, something deeper.

From somewhere in her voice, through his brain came the words, like from a recess of old memory "_I am going to choose to see the best in you". (_Where had that come from? Was he going mad? Why could he see only light where he knew logically there was only darkness?)

He approached with the knife, despite already becoming resigned there was no way he could actually do it, when she lifted her chin up as he approached, exposing her neck for easier access, her eyes flashing as if daring him to do it. But in those eyes there was more than just the taunt, but real pain, self- repulsion. He dropped the knife and dropped to his knees.

_"Why did you not kill me when you had the chance love? "_

She shrugged, and looked away saying "_Go ahead Captain, do your worst" _and more softly "_Be the hero and kill the monster, save the people"_

But she did not look like a monster with her golden hair, and a tear slipped down the corner of her eye, betraying her. He felt pulled to her, like a magnet. But he was less sure which of them was the positive and which of them was the negative. They attracted each other anyways, he could feel it, and he wondered what was to be done, until all he thought to manage was:

"_I thought that you don't care about anyone but yourself?"_

She looked at him, and he knew the reply before she even said it, anticipated it, "_Maybe I just needed reminding that I could"_

He sighed, kicking the knife further away from them both, to give him the needed time to run, his decision made. Bloody Hell.

_"Well , I believe in good form, you spared my life, so I owe you back in kind, in return." _He calculated the time she would need once he left to get to the knife and get herself released. He better run.

She smiled at him suddenly in understanding.

_"May the best one win Captain" _she said, then gestured to her cuff hopefully

"_I may be sentimental, but I am not stupid love, if we are going to go after each other, I need it to be a fair fight, my wits against your brains"_

He took one look at her, as if to memorize the features he already knew to well for his own comfort. He felt winded at that smile. A physical ache. How could that smile be evil?

He was clearly insane to be doing this. Well, he could regret it later.

He took a deep breath and turned and ran, plotting as to how he would try to strike next. And pondering why running _away _from her could feel so wrong.

**DARK? EMMA**

She was tracking him through the forest, pleased with her skill when she stepped onto it first, her brain registering too late that she had walked into a trap.

The net encased her, covering her body and hauling it up to the trees, and she was helpless to do little but snarl at him as he emerged from his hiding in the pines and bush.

He looked ridiculously proud of himself. She had a sudden urge to punch him in the face, which she felt far more comfortable with then her normal urge to kiss him. Emma checked her pockets for anything that she could throw at his head that would hurt sufficiently enough to make her point, smiling when her fingertips held a magic potions she had from her collection. The cuff stopped her from new magic, but her old potions where still effective. She armed herself for battle with them, willing to take any advantage she could.

She had one that would turn him into a frog. She contemplated it for precious seconds, but decided that she was having too much fun. Plus, look at that face. It was more puppy that reptilian. Hmmm, she may just have a potion for puppy, but not on her...

_"Hello love, did you miss me?"_

_"I bet you think your are clever" _she said, sarcastically unnerving him by smiling at him despite her predicament.

He scratched at the side of his head a little, looking strangely bashful _"I got the idea from someone else, but I can't seem to recall when exactly"_

She pulled a small knife from her pocket and behind her back started quietly trying to cut herself free.

"_Getting old Captain, losing your memory, what are you 300?" _He nodded again, (how had she known that?) but grinned wolfishly at her.

"_Luckily for me, I still have my youthful glow" _He posed to allow her to admire him, and she did her best to roll her eyes in response "_I am angelically handsome, am I not?"_

_"Clearly a prince among men, which is why you entrap defenseless women"_

_"Are you a woman? I heard that you really were a flesh eating dragon?" _

_"I am only a dragon when the moon is full and I crave the flesh of the innocent" _

She smiled at him stupidly, enjoying it all too much, forgetting to saw at the ropes behind her for a minute. His eyes danced, countering

_"I hear the flesh of the newborn baby is the most tender, what's your favorite? " _She new he was joking but another memory reared forward suddenly of her stepping on, literally, the lifeless body of a newborn in an evil rampage, and she choked out suddenly in horror, as the memory hit her brain. As usual her heart protested at the image, trying to convince the head it was false. The moment was lost, as it wasn't funny suddenly, to joke about such things... when she really was a demon.

She contemplated the frog potion again, but against herself this time, wishing she had the stomach for self sacrifice.

She had done nothing truly evil for two weeks, since she woke up with the headache dressed in an overly dramatic evil sorceress gown that seemed far to... well everything for her taste. All small little metal spikes and chains. (The unnecessary cleavage exposure, my god)

She sighed, feeling defeated. How can you ask for forgiveness for something so atrocious, you could never forgive yourself? It would be so easy to give into the darkness as she clearly had in the past, to bury her pain in it.

She didn't realize she was lost in thought until he cleared his throat, and her eyes shot to his face, watching her with concern.

_"Are you okay love?" _The tenderness in his voice almost doing her in. Almost.

The last bit of rope she needed to be free, sliced open and she shook herself out of it, throwing the knife at him directly to distract him, while she dropped back onto the ground.

He dodged it, his reflexes as fast as ever, and had the gall to look hurt.

"_Bloody hell" _he cursed, pulling out the sword at his side in renewed acknowledgement of their positions on opposite sides.

"_Oh calm down, it was just a little one, you would have barely felt it" _Emma joked, and he raised his sword up at her, waving it, replying

"_When I jab you with my sword, you'll feel it" _He wiggled his eyebrows at her, to make sure she did not miss the double meaning. She had just the thing for that, pulling out a vial of shrinking dust, and throwing it quickly over his blade. It minimized down fast, until the entire length of blade, was at best two inches. She raised her own eyebrow at him,

_"I had heard the expression, big ship, little..., well you know, but Captain, really it's not even cold outside, does it get even smaller if there is a chill?"_

He looked at the blade horrified, dropping it suddenly, as if it scalded his hands. "_I knew you were evil, but shrinking a mans pride, really Swan... you are increasingly terrifying.."_

_"I also have this black fairy dust, that will reduce the most fearsome foe to an insect to crush" _She emptied the contents of the vial into her hand, showing it to him, although in truth it was a potion to simply make one invisible.

She bluffed with it, gesturing as if she intended to throw it at him,

"_If I were you I would surrender, and beg for mercy, on your knees preferably"_

He started moving backwards, and she moved forward following him, eager to maintain close to him so the threat of the spell would feel real. He looked too calm for her liking, the glint in his eyes giving her just enough warning and she cursed when she heard the telltale snap underneath her feet and she was almost netted again, barely being avoided hauled by another trap up into the trees, jumping back and out of the way as he said.

"_A good hunter lays more than one trap love." _

But two could play the game and as she jumped backwards, she tripped a little, falling, and allowed herself to make a show of letting go of the dust, letting it fall in herself and turning herself invisible.

He of course, would believe she had turned herself to a bug, effectively destroying herself.

He should by all reason smile, or at least take a breathe of relief, but as she hit the ground, now unseen by him, he screamed out in panic

"_No, Emma. God, no. No. No. please no. " _His distress was real as he started to sort madly through the leaves, unaware of her watching quietly only a few feet away, searching for the bug he believed her transformed into. Tears of something sentimental glistening in her eyes. She had a horrifying desire to hug and comfort him.

Her heart beat hard watching the real horror on his features, the depth of his, well, grief, which made no sense. She was about to move and give in and reveal herself, her heart hurting at his suffering, when he breathed a sigh of relief suddenly and sat up, relieved, his hands cupping the bug he believed she'd become. Talking to it.

"_Let's get you back to Regina love" _and Emma knew the Queen would likely stomp on her rather than save her. His hands cracked open to reveal a black widow spider, venom filled and deadly, her humour vanished at the reminder of what he though she would be. Could he not at least found a god damn caterpillar that could turn into a butterfly? She felt furious at herself for being so soft when it came to him.

She watched him walk away with his new pet into the woods, pissed at his choice of insect and his plan to turn her in. Trying not to giggle at the sound of his one sided conversation with the wee beast, carrying back to her in the wind.

She hoped the stupid thing bit him.

Of course, she thought smiling, his guard would be down now and he won't see her coming. She knew just when to strike next...


	3. Chapter 3

**CAPTAIN JONES**

He was begging, he realized, but he continued anyways, desperate to find a way to return her back to her human form. To bring Emma back to him.

It was however falling on deaf ears, and Regina continued to refuse to help, and instead was horrified at what he wanted her to do. He supposed the fact that the spider was still alive, was progress with her. He knew no one else with magic that he could trust, and him and Regina were tenuous at best, more allies than friends.

"_You want me to save her? Are you serious? Mad maybe? I ordered you to kill her!" _Regina argued, and Killian ran his hands through his face, frustrated, tiring of the circular argument.

_"I am not going to give up on this Regina" _And he knew, deep down, he wasn't. He would keep fighting until he could find a way to save her. His gut was screaming with the need. He decided it was time to change tactics. He decided to tell Regina the truth.

"_Regina, something is wrong. I know this sounds crazy, but she is not the pure evil we know her to be. Evil doesn't hate themselves for what they have done... and they don't have white magic and sad eyes"_

The Queen simply raised her eyebrow up at him sarcastically "_This is not your brain but another organ talking, isn't it?" "The people are getting scared, demanding that we do something about these villains." "You know as well as I do that the "Golden One" Rumple, has them all demanding this. We need to save these people, and not allow ourselves to be manipulated by your ...weaknesses."_

_"I know you feel it Regina, bloody hell, don't deny it. I see it in your face too, that something is missing, that something is wrong." _

_"We are celebrated hero's, adored by all, and I have my son Henry, what could possibly be missing" R_egina raised her chin up as she said this, and stared him down defiantly. She smiled at him, in a show of "happiness" but Killian saw that it did not reach her eyes. Knew she felt as uncomfortable with their status as he did. He clung to the shadows to avoid it, but she simply shut down and plastered on a fake smile instead. Waiving for her people, only her body posture slightly betraying how truly uncomfortable it all made her.

He knew what he was missing now, having felt the spark that Emma had ignited in him. He looked at Regina speculatively. Like him, she had brushed away all possible suitors, with weak excuses. Maybe it was a big leap, but he took it anyways.

_"You are missing **him,** Regina. Your version of what she is for me." _He gestured at the spider again, his eyes pleading.

Her head snapped up at that, her eyes grew wide, then narrowed dangerously. Her efforts to hide and be stubborn double and she crossed her arms, lying "_I have no idea what you are talking about" _ but Killian knew she was lying, as her hands trembled a little, betraying the level of her emotion.

_"Help me save Emma, and I will find him for you." _

The silence stretched on between them, as Regina fought an internal battle. But then finally:

_"I see him only in dreams, I can make out nothing but the feeling of pure happiness, and a tattoo on his arm..." _Killian listened as she described the tattoo to him, grinning widely when he realized he knew exactly who HE was.

_"It appears we are in luck my Queen, as I know exactly WHO he is, and exactly where to find him." " If I bring him here, you will return Emma to her human form, agreed?" _

The Queen nodded her agreement, and it came out so softly, he almost missed it.

_"Who is he? In my dreams, I can never see his face, but he brings me into the light, and I feel nothing but his love...:"_

Killian grinned, thrilled to find his ally in a similar predicament.

"_Well, he is no Black Swan, mass murderer and evil incarnate. But it doesn't surprise me he would steal your heart, as he steals anything he can get his hands on." _

He paused for dramatic effect and he watched as her eyes widened in anticipation. He wiggled his eyebrows and teased. "_Bolt down your valuables love"_

_"it appears that the man of your dreams is Robin Hood."_

It was shockingly easy to capture him.

Killian had heard the whispers of where he was, and how to find him, and it took mere hours to catch him for the Queen with the extra fuel of his determination to get Emma back to her former self.

He laid his trap. To catch the most selfish, thief, who famously stole the last bit of food from a starving child just to let it rot in his massive hoard of gold, he went undercover as a poor helpless, man. He dressed in rags, exposed the sad stump of his missing hand, and placed a single valuable item, a gold nugget in his begging box, to give him something to take. Covered his face as much as he could so that he would not be recognized and sat himself down in the centre of a small but struggling village, and waited for him.

It took mere seconds when Robin rode into town, an hour or so later, to realize that Robin, like Emma, was not what he was supposed to be.

Robin came into town with a bag of gold and a wagon of food. There was a sadness around his eyes, of shame? and he quickly went to work distributing his hoard and his wealth to the people. The hungry children were being fed, not stolen from. The wealth given, not taken. Killian's memories fought with this, reminding him of stories of Robin's vileness, his infamous greed. But the stories refused to match this man, and he clutched Emma a little tighter (he brought spider her along, not risking her with Regina, safe in a glass jar) whispering to her "_Looks like you are not the only one who does not live up to their reputation"._

Robin saw him then, and approached, and Killian was blown back by the sheer _kindness _in his eyes. He tossed some additional coins in the jar, and knelt before him, saying softly _"Losing a limb, is a tragedy, I am sure, but not the end, my friend." _

Killian watched dazed as Robin patted his shoulder encouragingly. _"We all have set backs, we have all done things we are not proud of. But we need to get back up, be better, more forward." _He helped pull Killian to his feet, and dusted him off. _" You are strong, and you can be useful. I could use another man to help re-distribute what I have wrongfully taken. Will you help me correct this wrong?"_

Bloody hell, Killian thought, looking at the good being done, and wanting desperately to join in to help this man. He knew what it was like to want to change, to be better, to right past wrong... what? past wrongs? He shook his head at the thought, because where had that come from?, he knew from his own memories, he had never been anything but a hero. But the emotion still clung to him, the understanding of regret and the desire to change. The pull to do what he could to help this man make amends for whatever crimes he believed he had committed.

He would have joined him, if he could.

Only one thing, and one thing alone was powerful enough to make him willing to betray this man, and his extended hand and genuine sentiment.

Emma.

She was first, and he needed to trade this man for Emma. He was turned away now, smiling and greeting another villager, and Killian scratched the side of his head and prepared himself for what he was about to do, comforting himself with the knowledge that if his gut was right, the Queen was not going to hurt this man. This man was her Emma.

For someone who didn't see it coming, Robin put up a good fight. But Robin was a bow man, and Killian, for all of his apparent goodness, took him fast, with a knife, like a pirate.

If Robin thought it was weird that Killian kept talking to a spider on the way back to the castle, he was too disgruntled by the kidnapping to complain, mollified that the rest of his men were allowed to stay free...


End file.
